The Panama Canal is one of the world's great feats of engineering and ingenuity. After explorers from Europe first discovered the Americas, they then found out that it was a long way to the rest of the world. A voyage down the east coast of South America and around the Cape, in the best of weathers was no picnic, and in the worst, left many a ship on the bottom of the ocean. The new "shortcut", lopped a whopping 7,872 miles off the trip.

It was a project that underwent a couple of false starts before getting off the ground in 1904, and being completed ten years later for a total cost of around $387 million dollars. At 58 miles long, that's about $6.67 million dollars per mile. So how were they going to get all that money back? By charging tolls, naturally.

At normal traveling speeds through a channel such as this, the trip takes 7-8 hours, although a hydrofoil from the U.S. Navy once sped from Atlantic to Pacific in two hours and forty-one minutes. For the privilege of saving time and mileage, some have paid higher fees than others. In 1993, the Crown Princess cruise ship was clipped a hefty $141,349.97. However, Richard Haliburton, the notorious writer/adventurer, got off much cheaper in 1928. He swam the length of the canal, through the locks, over an eight day period and paid just thirty-six cents.